Lautenberg Implementation News & Info

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg), which makes important changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) -- the first revision of our domestic chemical management law in 40 years. Stakeholders will need immediately to understand what the "new TSCA" means for their industrial operations and strategically adjust their global operations to the new law.

This page contains constantly updated links to commentary, analysis, articles, and regulatory documents to help those in the chemical and chemical products industry understand what they need to know about TSCA reform, and what it means to their business.

Recent Lautenberg Implementation Articles by B&C

Lynn L. Bergeson, "EPA Updates the TSCA Inventory: Impact on chemical importers," Elements, the Magazine of Chemicals Northwest, Spring 2019.
On February 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a much anticipated “updated” Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. The updated TSCA Inventory now lists chemicals that are “active” versus “inactive” in commerce in the U.S. This development has important legal and transactional implications for foreign companies importing chemicals into the U.S. This column explains why.

Lynn L. Bergeson, "EPA Issues Final TSCA Fees Rule," Chemical Processing, October 29, 2018.
On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final fees rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final rule largely tracks the proposed rule. The EPA will host a series of webinars focusing on TSCA submissions and fee payments under the final rule. The agency has posted a pre-publication version of the final rule, as well as its response to public comments on the proposed rule.

Lynn L. Bergeson, "Compliance: CDR Rule Shows Room for Improvement," Chemical Processing, September 19, 2018.
This summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report titled “EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting Rule Largely Implemented as Intended, but Opportunities for Improvement Exist.” The OIG conducted an audit to determine how the EPA is ensuring companies are compliant with the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and whether the EPA uses CDR data to prioritize chemicals for the purpose of identifying their potential risks to human health and the environment. The OIG found that implementing policies for data quality checks will help tailor the information reported to meet the EPA’s needs. This column discusses the report.

Lynn L. Bergeson, Richard E. Engler, Charles M. Auer, and Kathleen M. Roberts, "New Chemicals Under New TSCA—Stalled Commercialization," Bloomberg Environment Insights, September 11-13, 2018.
Bergeson & Campbell has written extensively about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of the 2016 Amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act occasioned by enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). On the whole, EPA implementation efforts have been timely, balanced, and defensible. Implementation of Section 5 (new chemicals) revisions has been less successful. To date, the EPA’s approach has impeded the commercialization of more sustainable new chemical technologies and thus has, ironically, extended the market presence of often less- sustainable legacy chemicals. This article was originally published as a three part series analyzing the implementation of TSCA Section 5 and its impact on chemical innovation.

Lynn L. Bergeson, "The Trump Administration and global chemical issues," Elements, the Magazine of Chemicals Northwest, Summer 2018.
This article reviews the Trump Administration’s engagement, to date, in key industrial chemical matters, domestically and internationally. Topics include the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the UN’s Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Lynn L. Bergeson, "The New Administration and International Chemical Issues," Environmental Quality Management, Volume 27, Issue 4, Summer 2018.
As a candidate and now as president, President Trump has been uncharacteristically predictable in systematically dismantling signature environmental policies of prior administrations and ceding the United States’ leadership in combating climate change to other global powers.